Child care regulations build a stronger social and economic future for North Carolina by promoting high quality early childhood experiences. Regulations are essential not only for maintaining quality child care but for promoting the healthy, intellectual growth of our children and the professionals who work with them.

Child care regulators are established by the General Assembly as the MINIMUM rules child care operations will follow to protect children and maintain their health and safety while in care. The organization of the child care centers or the family care homes is regulated, not the individual. Regulations protect children when they are not in the care of their families and prevent them from being exposed to potentially dangerous situations.

It has been shown nationally, that as licensing rules become more stringent, fewer poor quality child care options are available. Licensing standards, however, are not the SEAL of quality-- they are the beginning. There are many child care operations that seek to go beyond these rules and strive for higher quality.

To learn more about standards of quality, you can read information available in books from professional associations, visit others and observe their learning environments, and even talk to your child care licensing consultant. To learn more, you can explore any of these web sites:

• North Carolina Division of Child Development - www.ncchildcare.net
• National Network for Child Care - www.nncc.org/
• Data on North Carolina's Children - www.nncc.org/states/nc.html
• Information about Accreditation and National Credentials - www.nncc.org/Evaluation/evaluation.page.html

In North Carolina, the rating scales are used to determine part of the star-rated license for program standards. If you click on the particular scale name, there are NOTES that help clarify items within the scale that can support your quality improvement.